1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a system and method for providing credit to be paid by automated withdrawals from a deposit account, and more particularly to a system and method for extending credit, wherein the credit extension is contingent upon receiving a one-time authorization to execute multiple, automatic withdrawals from a deposit account.
2. Background Art
With the advent of technology, transactions involving an exchange of money are becoming faster and faster. Not too long ago, the process of paying the telephone bill was time consuming and involved a lot of paper. For instance, a person might first receive a physical paycheck from his employer. He would then physically go to the bank, to deposit the paycheck in his checking account. Once the physical paycheck proceeded through the check clearing system, the funds would be credited to the person's account. With the funds securely in his checking account, the person would then physically write a check to the telephone company and mail it. The telephone company would then physically go to the bank, deposit the check and so forth. The entire process may take ten days or more to complete.
The problems with this conventional, paper-based system are numerous. First, the process takes too long. A customer may write a check and have difficulty balancing his checking account due to the lengthy time required for the check to clear. Second, the customer must remember to physically write a check each and every month, less services be terminated. Third, the process of physically carrying a paper check from customer to bank to bank to service provider to customer is costly.
There is thus a need for an improved method and system for obtaining payments from customers.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.